Ask Bill

I've been receiving more emails lately from you with questions on various topics, so I thought I'd create a new column. Some of these I've already answered in separate emails so if yours is one of the questions below, I apologize for the duplicate answer. Please continue to send me questions, and I'll try to get an answer and list it here.

John from Keene, New Hampshire asks: Bill did you catch Rob Dibbles comment the day Strasburg got hurt? Talk about being tough on the kid.

Answer: Yes I did hear about that. In my opinion it was a bad coincidence for Dibble as who knew the injury would require Tommy John surgery? For those that didn't hear, when Strasburg hurt his arm last week, right after he threw the pitch, it didn't seem all that serious but Strasburg instantly called the coach and trainer out and quickly left the game. He was shaking his arm around and moving it like it was going to be fine but as we know, turned out to be more serious. Well Rob Dibble, who's one of the Nationals announcers, criticized Strasburg and said on air the kid needs to man up and shake it off. I don't feel the comments were meant in a bad way, it was an honest comment by a guy that pitched in the majors for a long time and dealt with various injuries himself. Apparently Dibble asked to take a couple days off and hasn't been back on the air since.

Steve from San Clemente asks: Bill what happened with Mike Napoli being on waivers and being claimed by the Red Sox? Napoli's one of the Angels power hitters and they can't score runs...

Answer: Yes the Angels put Napoli on waivers and he was claimed by the Red Sox but they were unable to work out a deal, so Napoli stays. A lot of teams put players on waivers, some time with the intention of trading them, other times just to see what interest is out there from what teams, should some thing come up in the off season. Speaking of the Red Sox, I'll bet you didn't know they had Clay Bucholtz, John Lester, Josh Bard and Hideki Okajimi on waivers this year. Why? They were just curious what was out there, doesn't mean they want to trade any of them. Going back to Napoli, the Angels have catchers Mathis and Wilson also on the roster with Hank Conger in AAA. Napoli is the worst of the major league guys defensively (although the best offensively) and makes the most money (roughly $3.6 million). They have to do something and they've probably decided Napoli is the guy to "cut bait on" and get that salary off the books. Red Sox probably didn't offer as good a prospect as the Angels were looking for, so they're waiting till the off season to unload him.

Jim from Portsmouth, New Hampshire asks: Bill loved your write ups on Basketball Wives, what's going on with it? Will it be back next year?

Answer: Thanks Jim. I got quite a bit of feedback on those write ups and apologize for not recapping the last couple episodes. The good news is Basketball Wives has been renewed for a second season although they haven't announced the "cast". It'll still take place in Miami so maybe with the new Heat roster, they'll have plenty of fresh "talent" to choose from. As soon as I hear more details I'll pass it along. I just hope Evelyn returns, she's my favorite "ho".

Rob from Natick, Massachusetts asks: Bill what's your prediction about Roger Clemens and his court case? I read your write up last week and then saw the "Rocket" plead not guilty yesterday. Is he going to jail?

Answer: I saw the sentencing guidelines yesterday if he's found guilty. 15 years in jail and a million dollar fine. Yikes....Now most likely if found guilty he'd get the minimum (20 months jail time) but still, would you risk that? I know he's a "proud Texan" (god knows we heard him say that for 25 years now) but still, way too much circumstantial evidence out there for me to be risking that sort of stiff penalty if by some strange reason I'm found guilty. I see where his lawyer (Rusty Hardin) quit last weekend. Usually when that happens it's due to the fact the lawyer thinks the client is guilty and should plead guilty and except a lesser sentence and the client disagrees and wants to fight it. As I said last week, I think Roger should suck it up, plead guilty and except the consequences.

Pete from Naperville, Illinois asks: Did you see the hit by Ndamukong Suh on Jake Delhomme last weekend? Think he should be suspended?

Answer: Hi Pete, long time, no hear. Yes I did see it, pretty scary. No I don't feel he should be suspended, I don't think any extra "malice" was intended other than bringing down the QB. He was penalized on the play and personally I think it should be left at that. From Suh's comments he thought Delhomme still had the ball and that's why he finished off the play by throwing Delhomme down. You can't expect to tell football players to be aggressive, then go out and suspend them when they think they're being aggressive within the rules. As I said, he was penalized for the face mask and as they say in Star Wars, "move along, nothing more to see here". For those haven't seen the hit, here's a youtube clip: Suh flattens Delhomme

Steve from Lake Forest, Ca asks: Bill, how will the El Toro football team do this year?

Answer: Thanks for asking Steve, nice hearing from you. Actually I think the program is on an upswing. They've got some nice pieces in place with 6 returning all league players from last year along with a transfer QB from Virginia who's being highly recruited. Coach Frith and his staff did a great job last year in year one of taking over and are looking at improving on last years record of 8-4 (4-1 Sea View). With Trabuco Hills moving over to the South Coast league, it leaves the league wide open for El Toro and they'll capitalize on it. I believe the OC Register has them at #11 in their Orange County preseason rankings and that sounds about right to me. My prediction is 9-3 on the year. They open on the road when they travel to Boston to face Delaware Valley this Friday, September 3rd. Go Chargers!

Susan from Lake Forest, Ca asks: Bill, you were talking about the CIF transfer rules and how a couple players eligibility were turned down due to it being an athletic transfer, yet I see a linebacker from Trabuco Hills just transferred to Mission and he's eligible. What's up?

Answer: Susan, great question. The CIF is sort of like the NCAA sanctioning body as they seem to be a government all their own! Seriously though, they have certain guidelines they follow and then make their decision based on the information they gather. In relation to your question though. Chase Favreau transferred from Mater Dei this year to Edison and was all set to take over as starting QB. Well CIF ruled he transferred due to athletic reasons and have said he needs to sit out a year. Of course Edison's fans and coaches are upset but come on, it was athletically motivated and everyone in the "know" knows it. I remember sitting in the stands for a Mater Dei baseball game two summers ago and talking about Favreau and Wittek battling it out for the starting position. Well Wittek won the job so Faveau's leaving so he can start elsewhere. Not brain surgery.... From all I've heard, the family lives in Newport Beach and the dad has plenty of money, so the transfer is not due to "money issues" (and besides if it was money, why wouldn't the kid go to Newport Harbor or CDM, where he's zoned for?). The linebacker from Trabuco Hills you're referring to is Griffin Balmer. He just transferred to Mission for his senior year. He was the Sea View leagues Defensive MVP last year and CIF just okayed his transfer and he's eligible to play this year. Why is he eligible but Favreau isn't? Not sure. How about that for an answer? I'm doing some checking around with my sources at Trabuco Hills trying to find out. Someone said the parents are divorcing and the mother has moved into an apartment in Mission Viejo and he's living with her and now eligible to attend Mission. If that's the case, well it would fit the CIF rules for transferring. If and when I get a clear answer I'll pass it along (9/2 update - Got more info on Ballmer. Apparently he has "off field issues" which in all fairness to the boy, I'm not comfortable mentioning in a public forum. How this entails him to transfer and not lose eligibility, I'm not sure, but the transfer does NOT have to do with family marital problems). Some times the CIF does seem arbitrary when they rule some one eligible or ineligible, but I'm sure they have all the facts where as the rest of us are just guessing at what's going on.

Tim from Lake Forest, Ca asks: Bill, I know you're dialed in on the high school baseball players, whats the latest on any underclassmen signing?

Answer: Tim, here are a couple "name" underclassmen that have verbally committed recently. Sophomore short stop Chris Rivera from El Dorado High School committed to Cal State Fullerton, Sophomore catcher Jeremy Martinez from Mater Dei committed to USC, Junior 3rd baseman Andre Real from Orange Lutheran committed to University of San Diego and Junior Rio Riuz from Bishop Amat has committed to USC. The USC signings will be interesting to follow as Kreuter just got fired there and Pat Haden is waiting for a year to announce the new permanent head coach. A lot can happen between now and 2012/13.....

Thanks for the questions and please keep them coming!

Bill

5 For Friday - Monday Edition

Ok, so I'm a few days late and a couple dollars short.....

1) Texas Con Man - Just come out and admit you took steroids Roger and apologize to Congress. The government wouldn't be pursuing this unless they had something substantial on him. They're not going to bring a case to court they think they're going to lose. As much as I despise Clemens, I don't want to see him spend 6 months in jail. Admit what he's done and move forward. What should you take away from this? The government is like Fight Club. First rule of Fight Club? DON'T TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB. What's the first rule of government? DON'T LIE TO CONGRESS. Nothing good comes from it.

2) Brett Favre - Speaking of people I despise...... I hope week 2 he gets knocked out, gets his leg broken or something and is done for the year. Karma's a bitch Brett, remember it.

3) Preseason Football - I've actually been watching it this year. Maybe my football interest is coming back. I basically took last football season off. I think my hatred of the Jets is fueling this interest.... This is why rivalries are good, they generate interest.

4) Clay Buchholz - For those that haven't paid attention, Buchholz has been having a monster year for the Red Sox. 15-5 with an AL leading 2.26 era, finally fulfilling all the hype after he threw the no hitter a couple years ago. Good for him, seems like a nice, intelligent, hard working kid. Good to have these types of heroes that young people can look up to. And yes that's a knock against Clemens.....

5) Sweet Lou - Lou Pinella decided to retire from coaching yesterday in order to spend time with his ailing mother. Pinella's one of the few Yankee's I would have liked to have seen with the Red Sox. Played the game the right way. Wears his emotions on his sleeve and always gave an honest days work whether that was in the field as a player or at the ballpark as the manager. I'm sure we'll see him next year behind a microphone someplace as he's a natural talking about the game.

Bill

Five For Friday

1) Hopefully NOT The Full Monty - The British golfer, Colin Montgomerie, was awarded an injunction this week against an ex mistress who's claiming she wants to publish details and "media" of her and her relationship with married golfer Colin Montgomerie. They're not allowed to discuss what those items are in public but we should all be thankful to the judge not to allow public viewing of any possible Monty sex tape...... Can we agree on that?

2) Survivor: Nicaragua - I think Survivor jumped the shark about 4 years ago but I'm really looking forward to watching this season (Premieres Wednesday, September 15th on CBS). Why? Football analyst and ex Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson is one of the contestants. Apparently he's tried to get on the show for years and after having some heart work done recently they green lighted him for this season. I've always liked Jimmy and think he'll make an interesting person to follow. "How Bout Them Cowboys"!

3) MLB Draft Signings - The MLB draft was back in June but Monday is when they need to sign by. This weekend should be quite hectic as 3/4's of the 1st round picks haven't signed yet (including Bryce Harper). I'm sure most will wait till right up to the midnight ET signing deadline before inking their deals. Most are expected to sign however 2 picks to keep an eye on are the number 6th pick Barret Loux (Arizona Diamondbacks) and the number 18th pick Kaleb Cowart (LA Angels). Cowart really wants to go to FSU and has been very vocal from before the draft about wanting to go to college. The Angels reportedly are offering up to $2 million in signing bonus to get him which is WAY ABOVE slot.... (by about $1.5 million). Loux is a different story all together. Loux would sign right now, however Arizona has pulled their pre draft agreed upon offer off the table. Apparently Loux has arm issues (known by everyone before the draft) and while not needing surgery now, most likely will need it sometime down the road. The Diamondbacks are saying they will forfeit signing Loux and take their compensatory pick in next years draft instead. Needless to say the Loux family is not pleased with this and the Players Union has threatened to get involved. Not sure if this is something that'll get resolved before Monday so it'll be interesting to see whether Loux enrolls in classes at Texas A&M for the fall or sits it out. Normally when it's disagreement between a player and a team I take the teams side but in this case I'm fully in Loux's corner. The Diamondbacks knew of his injury pre draft and didn't have to take him but they did. He's not asking to sign for a ridiculous number just an amount they'd already agreed upon, so the Diamondbacks knew what they were getting when they picked him. The issue comes in where the Diamondbacks have fired their old GM and have different management in place so now they're trying to change things up... I get how new management comes in and wants to do things differently but some stuff you just have to go with. Step up to the plate and be honorable with the kid!

4) Zeke - This man knows no bounds when it comes to playing by the rules does he??? After the terrible mess on and off the court he did with the Knicks, why would they want him back as a consultant? I know we always joke about someone having blackmail photo's and using it, but seriously, why would James Dolan want to hire Isiah to be a consultant? That's not even realizing that it's blatantly against the rules (what would prevent the Nets from "hiring" John Calipari to consult or the Celtics to hire Mike Krzyzewski in the same capacity?). It just made no sense. Thankfully it didn't work out, Stern put his foot down and Zeke is back where he belongs on the Golden Panther bench coaching up a storm! I'm happy, your happy and most importantly, the FIU Co-Eds are happy!

5) HBO Hard Knocks - I haven't been a big fan of this show the previous couple editions, and god knows I hate the Jets, but after watching the 1st episode last night I gotta say this is must see TV! Rex Ryan is great. Lots of characters on the Jets to play off of, new faces, team being "billed" as a Super Bowl contender (don't fool yourself though, it's not, they have lots of issues.....) and Ryan is a made for television character. I highly recommend watching this. New episodes every Wednesday at 10pm on HBO (although it reruns often during the week). Don't miss it.

And this week, a bonus.....

6) USC Baseball - My previous entry on Monday was about SC firing Chad Kreuter and mentioned names of who they might hire. Well I've been doing more research on this and I think I discarded George Horton (Oregon head coach) too quickly. He's only been at Oregon for a couple years but his contract runs out after 2011. Pat Haden is taking a year to name a head coach (and giving the interim title to Cruz for this coming year), so the time frame matches up. Horton makes almost double the amount of money at Oregon than any other Pac 10 coach ($450,000 salary from Oregon and $500,000 from a Nike endorsement) but USC, being private, has the ability to match that with their deep pocketed alumni so they could step up there. The final piece here is that Horton is a Southern California guy and his kids and grand kids still live here. And from what I heard, his wife is anxious to come back and spend time with the kids.. Apparently the daughter is living in their old home down here, so a lot of pieces are in place for this happening. A majority of his recruits in Oregon are Southern California kids, so he still has those connections and it would be even easier to get top talent to come to USC as opposed to going away to Oregon. Until I hear something else, I'm going on record as saying expect to see George Horton named new USC head baseball coach in the summer of 2011.

Bill

Not A Surprise

USC Fires Coach Kreuter

Back in March when I attended the DodgerTown Classic, I came away surprised at how far the USC baseball program had fallen. Under Kreuter's tenure they'd been a sub .500 team and I said then if they didn't do better soon, Kreuter would be on his way out. Well they had a horrible year (28-37 and 7-20 in the Pac 10) and on Monday new AD Pat Haden fired Kreuter.

Where do they go from here? The LA Times article I linked to mentioned some local coaches, but I don't see any of them leaving. Maybe Hill from USD, but unless the money is substantially better (and that's a possibility as SC being private can pay whatever as compared to the limitations of a state school), why would any of them leave their current situation? Yes, USC has tradition but still, just seems a reach for one of them to leave a current successful program in order to resurect the Trojan program.

One thing the new coach needs to do is start mining the Southern California talent. That was a noticeable difference between USC and UCLA when I looked at their rosters this spring. UCLA was something like 90% southern California kids and USC was barely 40% (see the Dodgertown write up for more details). Not a coincidence UCLA made it to the College World Series final and USC had a losing record.

Here's an idea for a coach. What about Rick Vanderhook? Current UCLA assistant coach and prior to that long time Cal State Fullerton coach. How many CWS has he been apart of??? Successful winning coach with ties to the local southern california high schools and prep programs. USC would be hard pressed to find a better guy to take over and he's currently right down the road. Here's his bio from the UCLA website:

Coach Vanderhook - With this resume and his connections, are you telling me he wouldn't be succesful at USC???

Bill